{"product_id":"white-city-1","title":"White City","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the highly acclaimed author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eBad Day in Blackrock – \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003einspiration for the 2012 award-winning film \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhat Richard Did\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e, directed by Lenny Abrahamson...\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e​\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eShortlisted for the 2021 An Post Irish Book Awards Eason Novel of the Year...\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA darkly funny, gripping and profoundly moving novel about a life spinning out of control, a life live without the bedrock of familial love, and the corruption of material wealth that tears at the soul.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘It was my father’s arrest that brought me here, although you could certainly say that I took the scenic route.’\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHere\u003c\/i\u003e is rehab, where Ben – the only son of a rich South Dublin banker – is piecing together the shattered remains of his life. Abruptly cut off, at the age of 27, from a life of heedless privilege, Ben flounders through a world of drugs and dead-end jobs, his self-esteem at rock bottom. Even his once-adoring girlfriend, Clio, is at the end of her tether.  Then Ben runs into an old school friend who wants to cut him in on a scam: a shady property deal in the Balkans. The deal will make Ben rich and, at one fell swoop, will deliver him from all his troubles: his addictions, his father’s very public disgrace, and his own self-loathing and regret. Problems solved.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut something is amiss. For one thing, the Serbian partners don’t exactly look like fools. (In fact they look like gangsters.) And, for another, Ben is being followed everywhere he goes. Someone is being taken for a ride. But who?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhite City\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'\u003c\/b\u003eI can't recommend it enough. It's often hilariously funny but it's also a sharp and smart dissection of contemporary materialism' \u003cb\u003eJohn Boyne, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Heart's Invisible Furies\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'An immensely enjoyable and tautly written account of a young man from an affluent family whose life of privilege is turned upside down' \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Spiky, blackly funny novel that offers an incisive study on class, entitlement and masculinity' \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eIndependent\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Capacious and comic, luxuriantly written, with an intricate plot and heightened characterisation… both riotous rant and thoughtful coming-of-age tale' \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eDublin Review of Books\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39636253016147,"sku":"9781847399410","price":15.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781847399410.jpg?v=1778639453","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/white-city-1","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}